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Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Not sure I can fit a 205 under there without using spacers (not preferred) and I'm not sure the Spitty needs that much tire. 185/60 will fit just about right...but g'luck finding them! I used to run the old Firestone "cantilever" slicks when I raced it 7X21.5s and I could reack full RPMs at the end of the strait. When I tried some Goodyear 8X22.5s (F/Atlantic front take-offs) I lost RPMs and my lap times increased, even though I was a bit quicker in the wigglies.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Hugh MacD

Not sure I can fit a 205 under there without using spacers (not preferred) and I'm not sure the Spitty needs that much tire. 185/60 will fit just about right...but g'luck finding them! I used to run the old Firestone "cantilever" slicks when I raced it 7X21.5s and I could reack full RPMs at the end of the strait. When I tried some Goodyear 8X22.5s (F/Atlantic front take-offs) I lost RPMs and my lap times increased, even though I was a bit quicker in the wigglies.

I'm running 185/70's - but they are getting on enough to have a few tiny weather checks.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Reynard38

Stock tire on the Ridgeline is 245/60-18. Fortunately I shouldn’t need snow tires.
Was on tire rack and tires for it aren’t expensive, @ $125-$150 apiece.
The 17’s were $10-$15 cheaper. Curiously snow tires for the truck are 17”. Lot fewer wheel choices in 17” though.

Sorry - I was helping drift the thread into Fiats. 13" tires would look sharp on the Rigeline though!

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Well it depends on what you need to tow and what you like. I'm on my 4th Subaru Outback and use my old 2014 with 4 cyl and CVT to tow my 2,000# boat. It's a great daily driver, gets almost 30 mpg unlaiden on the highway and is comfortable and agile. It's very reliable and takes our Northeast winters in stride. It only has a 2,700# towing rating so at 2,000# I'm comfortably within the limits, but pulling my boat I can still accelerate going uphill and that's with the car loaded down too. Towing does knock the gas mileage down about half into the 15-17 mpg range depending on the hills. With the AWD its never had problems on a slippery ramp either. So for a relatively light boat that's my choice.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Reynard, if just you knew a little more about vehicles or had a chance to look at a few at car shows....oh wait....

Forest Mist, did you have to order it? We are going to pick up a new Odyssey, that is our plywood hauler, and we like that color. Or maybe the Obsidian Blue, but we need to see them in person. Can you drive your car down so we can check out the color? Amazing how many of the lot vehicles are silver, black or white.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

I'm not looking forward to trying to find 13" tires for my Spitfire, either...probably have to go to some of the "race" tires...Coopers or Toyos. I don't think Hoosier makes any DOT rated tires.

Sunbeam driver here. Hoosier has autocross/rain 13" tires that are DOT rated, but their site says not to use them on the road. Hmmm...
Toyo has some, and I got some (I'll-have-to-look-in-the-garage-tomorrow) brand thru Discount Tire that are regular road tires.

But re: trucks... Have a 2500 Suburban that will tow a house and has its own zip code. Pretty much no substitute when you need all that, but I do spend most of the time driving it alone and unloaded. (The truck, that is.)

The last drywall I picked up myself was with a Harbor Freight 1000 lb. fold-up trailer (pretty near capacity) towed by a 1989 Honda Civic Wagon with the CRX Si engine, 6-speed and their new-at-the-time RealTime 4WD system. (Similar to CRV's now.) Great car, and did a fine job towing. Had a custom hitch fabricated and installed because nothing was available at the time. Don't miss the trailer. Wish I still had the car, as it drove great.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Chip Chester

Sunbeam driver here. Hoosier has autocross/rain 13" tires that are DOT rated, but their site says not to use them on the road. Hmmm...
Toyo has some, and I got some (I'll-have-to-look-in-the-garage-tomorrow) brand thru Discount Tire that are regular road tires.

But re: trucks... Have a 2500 Suburban that will tow a house and has its own zip code. Pretty much no substitute when you need all that, but I do spend most of the time driving it alone and unloaded. (The truck, that is.)

The last drywall I picked up myself was with a Harbor Freight 1000 lb. fold-up trailer (pretty near capacity) towed by a 1989 Honda Civic Wagon with the CRX Si engine, 6-speed and their new-at-the-time RealTime 4WD system. (Similar to CRV's now.) Great car, and did a fine job towing. Had a custom hitch fabricated and installed because nothing was available at the time. Don't miss the trailer. Wish I still had the car, as it drove great.

Sometimes I need a pickup, but have a Suburban....

It will, however, tow my boat. Which is made of wood.

Great rig, Chip, and ingenious use of a ladder and (I imagine), a front-mounted hitch receiver.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by stromborg

Nice

Damn but that is a lot of steps up to the front door!

Those front steps and house elevation serve to raise the house above flood elevation from storm surge from hurricanes. The walls below the front porch are called breakaway walls. The idea is for the water to flow under the house instead for washing it away. This hopefully will reduce the pressure on the support piers. The shop not so much. Through the pine trees to left of the house is the ocean, bay or sound actually.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Arlc

Those front steps and house elevation serve to raise the house above flood elevation from storm surge from hurricanes. The walls below the front porch are called breakaway walls. The idea is for the water to flow under the house instead for washing it away. This hopefully will reduce the pressure on the support piers. The shop not so much. Through the pine trees to left of the house is the ocean, bay or sound actually.

Aric, yes it’s 10’ above grade, hence then steps. The house is on the Beaufort River across from Paris Island.
We are actually in an “A” flood zone as opposed to a “V”. V zones are near or on the beach and imply the property is subject to wave action. An A zone is subject to inundation.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

My property in Charleston is also in an A zone. AE actually. My base elevation is 11 ft, I have a 4 ft crawl space so the house sits at 15 ft. I’m about a mile from the Stono River. Neighbors that have have lived in the neighborhood a long while says the neighborhood has never flooded. V designation I believe refers to subject to wind velocity damage due to location. I forget what wind velocity threshold defines your property as a V zone, ie AV.

Wave action and inundation are are the same thing it’s a matter of flood me now or flood me later. Typically your location is protected being on a river behind a barrier island. However if the hurricane approaches from the wrong direction then water is driven up the rivers with disasterous results, as the results from recent hurricane Florence demonstrated in Wilmington, New Bern and Conway.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

I get that the house is raised above the local floodplain. In my line of work I get to move a lot of non-ambulatory patients up and down stairs, now I instinctively evaluate houses for egress.

Still a nice truck, have you figured out all the bells and whistles? My newest car (model year 2000) has the stock cassette tape player, I tend to be mystified for a day or two whenever we rent something on vacation.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Arlc

My property in Charleston is also in an A zone. AE actually. My base elevation is 11 ft, I have a 4 ft crawl space so the house sits at 15 ft. I’m about a mile from the Stono River. Neighbors that have have lived in the neighborhood a long while says the neighborhood has never flooded. V designation I believe refers to subject to wind velocity damage due to location. I forget what wind velocity threshold defines your property as a V zone, ie AV.

Wave action and inundation are are the same thing it’s a matter of flood me now or flood me later. Typically your location is protected being on a river behind a barrier island. However if the hurricane approaches from the wrong direction then water is driven up the rivers with disasterous results, as the results from recent hurricane Florence demonstrated in Wilmington, New Bern and Conway.

Welcome to the Low Country.

V zone insurance is substantially more expensive, due to wave action. The specifics are here...

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

I get that the house is raised above the local floodplain. In my line of work I get to move a lot of non-ambulatory patients up and down stairs, now I instinctively evaluate houses for egress.

Still a nice truck, have you figured out all the bells and whistles? My newest car (model year 2000) has the stock cassette tape player, I tend to be mystified for a day or two whenever we rent something on vacation.

We figured this will be the retirement house so we had an elevator installed. Was a LOT cheaper to do it upfront. That’s also why I didn’t get the new ride until now.

And its got some bells and whistles to be sure! Only driven it a few miles so far. I left it down at the new place with a neighbor since I picked it up on a layover. I hope to drive the Roadster down and bring the Ridgeline home to help with the move. Roadster went to my mechanic today for a few items I wanted addressed before we change addresses.

I did try out the adaptive cruise and the lane keep assist. Worked as advertised. Also the Apple car play is really easy to use.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

An elevator? That cracks me up! The engineering from the base elevation to the first and/or second floor must be interesting given the building codes for breakaway walls. How does the building codes account for that? Is the elevator built into the support structure piers?

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Aric, you said my house had breakaway walls, I didn’t. In fact it does not. In an A flood zone they are not required. A zones require hydrostatic vents to equalize pressure inside and outside the structure. All material below BFE must be able to withstand immersion. Electrical raised along with HVAC. The elevator controls and hydraulics are up against the garage ceiling.
I studied this stuff pretty extensively prior to deciding to build in the low country. You might want to review your Flood Insurance documents and the FEMA site in the event you ever need it.

Many of the homes in our neighborhood have elevators. Those that don’t usually are framed for them to be put in eventually.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

A few years back I was talking to an architect about a custom house plan and he strongly suggested we at least allow for putting one in eventually even if we didn't right away. His usual MO was to stack a couple of elevator-sized closets somewhere in the house.

We parted ways, I kept asking for a 1200 square foot house and he drew up a 2200 square footer...I'm in permitting for a 1500 square foot house now.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by stromborg

A few years back I was talking to an architect about a custom house plan and he strongly suggested we at least allow for putting one in eventually even if we didn't right away. His usual MO was to stack a couple of elevator-sized closets somewhere in the house.

We parted ways, I kept asking for a 1200 square foot house and he drew up a 2200 square footer...I'm in permitting for a 1500 square foot house now.

Thats what a lot of folks do. Makes adding it later a lot easier and cheaper.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Reynard38

Aric, you said my house had breakaway walls, I didn’t. In fact it does not. In an A flood zone they are not required. A zones require hydrostatic vents to equalize pressure inside and outside the structure. All material below BFE must be able to withstand immersion. Electrical raised along with HVAC. The elevator controls and hydraulics are up against the garage ceiling.
I studied this stuff pretty extensively prior to deciding to build in the low country. You might want to review your Flood Insurance documents and the FEMA site in the event you ever need it.

Many of the homes in our neighborhood have elevators. Those that don’t usually are framed for them to be put in eventually.

I used the same thing and my place is in an A zone as well. Flood vents and raised systems. Not a big deal. You were smart to put in the elevator, much cheaper now than a retrofit. I removed one from a house once, bought it cheap and considered installing it in my home but modifying it to do three floors instead of two was cost prohibitive. Sold it for well over what I paid. They are pretty simple machines, at least the one I had was. If I ever build another multi story house I will plan for it. My mom is beginning to have mobility issues and it would make all the difference.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

We took the roadster down to SC and brought the Ridgeline back to ATL. Figured it’d be handy for the move. Really like the vehicle. Very comfortable and quiet on the 320 mile drive. The driver aids are amazing. Lane keeping and adaptive cruise worked grest. Rarely had to put in a steering input on the 155 mile stretch of I-16 (one boring piece of road).
Apple car play makes smartphone integration easy. It’s not broken in yet but we got 26.2 MPG for the drive. It’s a 1100’ climb to ATL and we had a pretty good headwind so I suspect it’ll return 27mpg on the open road. This was at 70-75 mph.
Oh and regular gas is available for $2.38/gal in SC, a lot cheaper than the premium I’m used to buying.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Reynard38

We took the roadster down to SC and brought the Ridgeline back to ATL. Figured it’d be handy for the move. Really like the vehicle. Very comfortable and quiet on the 320 mile drive. The driver aids are amazing. Lane keeping and adaptive cruise worked grest. Rarely had to put in a steering input on the 155 mile stretch of I-16 (one boring piece of road).
Apple car play makes smartphone integration easy. It’s not broken in yet but we got 26.2 MPG for the drive. It’s a 1100’ climb to ATL and we had a pretty good headwind so I suspect it’ll return 27mpg on the open road. This was at 70-75 mph.
Oh and regular gas is available for $2.38/gal in SC, a lot cheaper than the premium I’m used to buying.

I never buy premium. Even though the various BMWs & Audis we own all call for it, modern engines have computer controlled timing, so that the moment pinging is detected, the timing gets dialed back a bit. So, the only drawback is that running regular reduces the mileage & power a bit. In my tests, it's reduce it 1 or 2 MPG - so maybe 5% tops. With premium being 15-20% more expensive, it just doesn't make sense. Power-wise - I simply don't use the full power of the car nowadays anyway - so who cares if it's down a few percent? If I were doing a track day, I'd make a point of running premium.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Another vote for the Suburban. I've had one for a year and a half, and wonder why I didn't do it long ago. It replaced a AWD Ford AeroStar, which would carry a lot but was noisy and no where near as comfortable. I've had 3, 4x4 pickups over the years, but there are very few things I need to carry that won't go in a Suburban. Even though mine is a 2001 with a lot of miles, it is still very comfortable and quiet on the road. For long hwy drives I like it better than our 2005 2.5XT Outback and it is almost as good in the snow. Of course both the Outback and the MSM Miata will run circles around it. For just pulling a trailer, I would probably prefer the shorter wheel base of a Tahoe, but the Suburban handles 4x8 Plywood, and has a lot of space inside even with the 2nd row seat up. It has a decent space even with the third row installed.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Garret

I never buy premium. Even though the various BMWs & Audis we own all call for it, modern engines have computer controlled timing, so that the moment pinging is detected, the timing gets dialed back a bit. So, the only drawback is that running regular reduces the mileage & power a bit. In my tests, it's reduce it 1 or 2 MPG - so maybe 5% tops. With premium being 15-20% more expensive, it just doesn't make sense. Power-wise - I simply don't use the full power of the car nowadays anyway - so who cares if it's down a few percent? If I were doing a track day, I'd make a point of running premium.

My 911 was very sensitive to fuel quality and Octane level. Even the “summer blend” fuel had an adverse affect on performance you could feel. When the knock sensor retarded the timing it was very noticeable.
The 330i tolerated lower octane levels better. The Roadster with its S54 engine (really a slightly detuned race engine) doesn’t care for anything less than good quality 93 Octane. High compression, 8000 rpm redline and a fairly long stroke.
A bad tank and it’ll ping (not knock) at lower rpm.
I really don’t put a lot of miles on it, so using premium fuel doesn’t cost me that much more. And it sounds SO good on its way to redline.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Got about 1600 miles on the Ridgeline now. Really like it. Very quiet, comfortable. Haven’t towed anything but the 15’ Chester Yawl with it so far.
Driving back and forth to the SAV airport to commute to ATL I’m getting 27mpg. On regular gas.
The lane keep assist, adaptive cruise and automatic high beams are much appreciated.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by 109jb

I will also say that hauling long lumber is easier in my Dodge Caravan minivan than it is in my truck. I know for a fact that a 10' 2x12 can be put in-between the driver and passenger seats and the rear hatch closed. I think you could fit a 12 footer in but can't verify. The cargo area is also wide enough to get a sheet of plywood between the wheel wells and close the hatch too.

We liked our Voyager and Caravan for the same reasons, throw a lot of small sailboat parts in there. ANd we could drive it around doors open, like we flew the Huey....okay, we didn't do that last part...

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

We're getting 24 around town in the Odyssey. First car with electric power steering so getting used to that, kind of like using an autopilot for the first few times when LKAS and ACC are working, I feel a little detached from the road. So we turn them off and hand drive to maintain proficiency The heated seat wraps up to the lumbar, so Skipper is very happy.

Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

Originally Posted by Reynard38

Got about 1600 miles on the Ridgeline now. Really like it. Very quiet, comfortable. Haven&rsquo;t towed anything but the 15&rsquo; Chester Yawl with it so far.
Driving back and forth to the SAV airport to commute to ATL I&rsquo;m getting 27mpg. On regular gas.
The lane keep assist, adaptive cruise and automatic high beams are much appreciated.

Adaptive cruise is the best thing since intermittent wipers, in my opinion.

Re: Thinking of a new tow vehicle/daily driver.

is that 27 your overall number or your trip number?

The lane keep assist and adaptive cruise, when done well are great.
Volvo has it figured out very nicely. My only complaint is that lanekeeping doesn't work when towing. (of course I understand WHY, but still...)
Wifey's toyota is rather less refined. The adaptive cruise feels fairly irritating in any kind of traffic, which of course is when it matters, and the lanekeeping is similarly clunky.